What meals do you cook when very low on money?

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Beans, rice, potatoes - the holy trinity.

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Adds nicely to the beatboxing too

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So far wasnt in the situation, buuut:
Cheap and easy spaghetti salad:
A big bowl
1 piece of garlic, finely chopped or sliced
2-3 big tomatoes or appeopiate amount of smaller tomatoes, small pieces
Basil, finely chopped
Spices (rosemary, Oregano, etc. for other pizza and pasta appropriate spices)
Olive oil, a healthy amount. The ingredients should be moderately covered in a small pool of oil (dont drown it.)
Pepper and chili flakes as much as you like
Let it rest for >60min. But you can be impatient and eat it earlier)
Salt to taste (should be a bit saltier than you like)

Cook as much spaghetti as you like.
Remove from water and add to the bowl with the oil mix.
Mix all ingredients hntil everything is covered.

Enjoy

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Even easier:
Rice with broth of joice + pureed (blended?) tomatoes.
Add a solid spoon of sour cream and parsley.

Easy tomato soup with rice. (also works with pasta)

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That sounds amazing! And really simple, and even affordable. Some chunks of cheese would make it even better, if there's cheap cheese to be had. Will definitely try this, maybe try adding some lentils as a meat substitute. Thanks for the suggestion!

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Your suggestions arent what I'd use it with but feel free to modify as you please
Take a look into the asiasn kitchen.
Some stuff can be made very easy with few ingredients there.

For example I made a duck breast broth udon bowl.
But it's
200 g (7 oz) duck breast fillet
1 leek
1 teaspoon sunflower oil
500 ml (2 cups) water
100 ml (7 fl oz) soy sauce
50 ml (3½ fl oz) sake
50 ml (3½ fl oz) water
100 ml (7 fl oz) mirin
5g (¼ oz) dried kombu
5 g (¼ oz) katsuobushi (dried bonito flakes)
Udon

Yes, the ingredients require upfront cost and are usually more costly (for example in Asian supermarkets) but the broth was amazing for those few ingredients.
And they could probably be substituted with cheap version (in comparison to mid-quality products) or swapped.
Maybe not the same taste but similar enough to still taste well.

(If someone wants the recipe, the epub can be found online.
This book (EN version under the same title) https://www.dorlingkindersley.de/buch/maori-murota-wiebke-krabbe-japan-home-kitchen-9783831046881
Page 14

Tried only one recipe but so far it's a good book.

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Really? Sure it's not a meal replacement, but it's a great snack, and who doesn't have a snack for dinner once in a while (my partner calls it "girl dinner"). You'll be hungry the next morning for sure, but I love popcorn for dinner once in a while.

Also, found this little writeup

Popcorn is a whole grain food that is high in important nutrients. This includes vitamins, minerals and very high amounts of fiber.

PS obviously don't do this for young kids, but for adults who know what they're doing...

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Rofl, but actually a better "recipe" than many college students are capable of.

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Yeah you can just soak them in boiled water to shorten the time required.

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I started vaguely planning my meals by the week sort of by accident. A friend made me a "weekly planner" whiteboard that had a "menu" section I thought would be totally useless.

But I started jotting down some ideas there, just on a whim, and I'll be damned but I love it!

I don't always follow my own plan, and I often just write the main/protein part and wing it a bit, but it's great having at least an idea what's coming down the pipe for the week, so I can actually plan prep and shopping, and use up what I have. It looks something like:

MON lentils
TUE beans
WED tofu
....

Etc, so like now I know to soak beans overnight on Monday, and go buy tofu before Wednesday.

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I can get many varieties of squash and brassica cultivars locally for a ridiculously low price as most of the entire county I live in used to be all farmland and we have a ton of actual farmers markets that aren't fully commercialized

So I eat a lot of acorn and spaghetti squash, broccoli and cabbage in many forms, peppers are usually cheap as well as carrots. Onions are cheap as well as bananas

Beef and chicken bouillon for cheap flavor, whatever fruit is on sale for desert

Tofu for protein as I can't stand the texture of beans

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Soup with lots of root vegetables, cabbage, lentils etc. whatever is in season (a tip is to roast the veg in the oven first for better flavour and mouth feel). I always have some good sausages in the freezer that I buy for 50% off because they're close to expiration. Thaw them and fry them pretty hard before joining the soup. I can easily feed myself and my gf for a week from one batch. A boring week for sure but you do what you gotta do. Mix it up with some different toppings or other flavourings during the week.

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I imagine the right answer differs from country to country, as prices can be pretty different from place to place.

But in the U.S., when I was poor I'd often use regular boxes of dried pasta and add canned chili to them, and maybe shred a little bit of cheddar on top, add hot sauce to taste.

0.5 lb (230g) of pasta: 800 calories, 28g protein. Approximately $0.50 ($1/box).

15 oz (425g) of canned chili with beans: 460 calories, 29g protein. Approximately $3.

4 oz (113g) block of cheddar cheese: 440 calories, 24g protein. Approximately $1.50 ($3 per 8 oz pack).

That's a 1700 calorie meal with 81g of protein, for about $5, that takes about 12-15 minutes. It requires only a single pot and a cheese shredder if you prefer shredding it yourself (you can also buy pre shredded for maximum ease/convenience).

Obviously you can portion down in size, or keep some leftovers, if you're not the type of person to need a 1700 calorie meal in a single sitting.

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Pot of beans with chicken meat in it. A rotisserie chicken is pretty cheap. You can also do a lot with meat, rice, and gravy or sauce. Asian recipes do a lot of delicious things with a little, too.

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Oatmeal. Lentils. Beans and rice. Pasta.

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I love ban chili, it's relatively cheap, vegetarian and incredibly versatile. Meaning that with one big pot of chili you can have 3-4 different meals without having the feeling of eating the same thing over and over.

I usually make a big pot and then the first day we can make burritos with tortilla shells, the next day nachos, you can eat it with rice, a baked potato use it as a base for soup or make vegetarian burger patties with it.

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Lazy mexirice: get a cup of rice or whatever amount you like, pour it over a hot pot already coated in hot olive oil. Shake it or stir the rice continuously in high heat. Keep looking at the oil wet rice. It will go from being fully clear to an opaque white. You can stop at white or continue until they get a more toasted brown orange color. At that point pour a good amount of ketchup from a squeeze bottle. Immediately following that with a cup of hot water. Now lower the heat fill the pot with enough hot water to cover the rice,. Finally cover the pot and wait 20 minutes. Add water if it dries too much.

You could toast a tomato and then add onions and such, buy ketchup is the lazy way. I do add some garlic powder.

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Microwave meatball subs and raw broccoli.

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I don't have a microwave. Sounds good, though.

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Here is my list of cheap foods I tend to keep on hand for making inexpensive meals.

Non perishable: Rice, Beans (black, chick pea, and lentils), dry mixed beans, bulk flour, bulk sugar, cans of tomato paste, cans of diced tomato, dried red chills, dry noodles, (like soba noodles or ramen noodles,) cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, vegetable oil, white vinegar. (I don't really eat traditional pasta, but that is also a cheap, non perishable.)

perishables: Onions, garlic, cilantro, carrots, Asian cabbage like nappa cabbage, green onions, green bell peppers, corn, potatoes, ginger root, soy sauce, ketchup, mayo, mustard, worcestershire sauce, oyster sauce, yeast, bananas, tomatoes, cucumbers, seasonal squashes, seasonable fruit.

More expensive optional perishables: Block of store brand cheddar and mozzarella cheese, eggs, butter, condensed milk, sweetened condensed milk, plain yogurt

spices: Salt, pepper, paprika, chill powder, oregano, basil, cumin, coriander, garam masala, tumeric

With that list of ingredients I can make these things: Fresh breads including naan, sandwhich bread, flour totillas, banana bread. Cheese pizza, vegetarian Chinese dumplings with dumpling sauce, felafel, channa masala (a chick pea curry I eat with rice and naan), black bean burgers, black bean chilli, spiced lentils, Dahl (a type of lentil soup), Raita which is a condiment made with yogurt, spices, and veggies, Vegetable yakisoba, cheap ramen enhanced with egg, corn, carrot and green onion, home made brownies, tomato soup, cheesy baked potato, mashed potato, home made caramel to serve with brownies, or fruit, or mixed into yogurt with fruit. With the seasonal squashes I can make a squash bisque using butternut squash, or veggie soup using the mixed dried beans with the squash and other veggies.

When it comes to spices, I find that they are cheaper in my local asian grocery than the standard grocery store. When it comes to ketchup, mustard, and mayo, I get that for free just by asking at fast food joints, or grabbing them when they are freely offered in fast food joints.

The other thing that keeps the cost of the foods I eat low, is the fact that I am making it all from scratch. You can see that I am primarily cooking vegetarian, because meat is really fucking expensive. PM me if you would like the recipe for anything I mentioned.

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What meals do you cook when very low on money?